Faith In Action: Long-term - Courage Stickers

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

Decide whether you will buy or make heart-shaped stickers. If you plan to make them, decide whether you will make them in advance or provide materials for the children to make their own stickers.

Optional: To make heart-shaped stickers, you will need white or red label sheets with labels at least two by three inches (available in most office supply stores), red markers and crayons, scissors, and glue.

Optional: Use some heavy card stock, a pencil and scissors to make and cut out heart templates to help the children draw their own hearts on the label sticker paper.

Optional: Obtain sparkle or other decorations for the hearts.

Be sure to include information for parents about this activity in this session's Taking It Home handout or in a separate letter or email.

Place the art supplies on the table where all the children can reach them.

Make a few examples of what a hand-made "courage" sticker could look like using a variety of coloring techniques.

Description of Activity

In the first part of this two-part Faith in Action activity the children prepare heart-shaped "courage stickers" to give to others and to themselves. Use store-bought stickers to save time or have the children make the stickers themselves. If they are making the stickers themselves, they will have time to talk about who they might give them to and how they might earn some themselves.

Invite the children to take some courage stickers with them when they leave today to give to people in their family, friends at school, and others they know who have done an act of courage. Encourage them to ask people to tell about a time that they did something that took courage, and especially a time when they used courage to stand up for something that they believed in. Once the person has told the story, the child may give them a courage sticker to put on their chest. The children can also put stickers on themselves if they feel that they have done something that took courage.

To complete this project, the next time you meet have the children share the stories others have told them, as well as their own courage experiences.

You may wish to invite parents or others to join the group to share their own stories about courage in the face of injustice. If you wish to invite parents, extend the invitation in your letter describing this Faith in Action activity or in the Taking It Home section for this session.

Including All Participants

If some children may need parents to help them report on their courage stickers, make sure you invite the parents to join the group to complete this activity. You may also invite parents to write what the child wishes to share, as they may be doing in the Gems of Goodness project.